Polly Klaas Foundation

The Polly Klaas Foundation is a 501(c)(3)public charity organization devoted to preventing crimes against children, assisting in the recovery of missing children, and lobbying for legislative assistance. The foundation was formed October 23, 1993 to search for Polly Klaas. Its executive director is Robert De Leo.[1] It has expanded its mission and now searches for many missing children.

The Polly Klaas Foundation also provides kits for parents to teach abduction prevention in a way that they state is not scary for kids.[2] It distributes over 100,000 of these kits per year[3]

The Polly Klaas Foundation worked with Convio to send targeted letters to state and federal officials to implement Amber Alerts in all 50 states.

Marc Klaas, Polly's father, is not associated with this foundation. However, Polly's mother, Eve Nichol, serves on the board.

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The Polly Klaas Foundation was created initially to search for Polly Klaas. After two years, the executive director, Gary Kinley, resigned with no explanation, and there was an analysis of financial problems in 1996.[4] The Polly Klaas Foundation has since recovered and has drastically increased its operating budget.[5]

The KlaasKids Foundation was founded in 1994 in order to help prevent crimes against children. That foundation is directed by, and is the official organization representing the opinions of, Polly's father, Marc Klaas. Klaas formed the new foundation to permit him to engage in advocacy for stronger sentences for violent offenders, which the Polly Klaas Foundation is prohibited from doing.